Of Hunters and Magi opens on a world shaped by old gods, buried truths, and people trying to live with the ruins the divine left behind. The story follows Bronwyn Amynta, a soldier carrying the weight of her homeland’s survival, and her uneasy partnership with Defurge, a once mad god now stripped back to something like a man. Their hunt for a lost artifact leads them through empty towns, strange magic, a deadly cassolisk, and the lingering shadow of a demigoddess whose marble remains hint at a frightening past. The world feels wide and lived in, and the early chapters mix danger, mystery, and emotion in a way that pulled me in right away.

I found myself hooked by the writing’s steady rhythm. The prose sits in that sweet spot between clean and vivid. It gives you enough detail to picture the scene without dragging you through it. I liked how the story takes its time letting Bronwyn think. Her doubts, her loyalties, and the fears she won’t admit come through in small moments that feel honest. The book plays with tension in clever ways. Quiet scenes hum with unease, and loud scenes carry a kind of messy panic that feels real. Sometimes the pacing slows a bit, especially when characters get lost in their own heads, but even then I never felt pushed out of the story.

The ideas running underneath the action kept surprising me. I didn’t expect the gods to feel so flawed or so tired, and I didn’t expect the world to feel so wounded by them. The theme of identity shows up again and again. Defurge is trying to understand who he is without his divine madness. Bronwyn is trying to decide who she wants to be when duty keeps shifting under her feet. Even the creatures and ruins around them feel like echoes of choices made long before they were born. I liked that. It gave the adventure weight. At the same time, I sometimes wished the book would loosen its grip on lore. There are moments when the explanations pile up and interrupt the natural flow of things. Still, the heart of the story stays clear and strong.

By the end, I felt fully invested in these characters and the deep strangeness of the world they’re walking through. I’d recommend this book to readers who enjoy fantasy that leans into emotion as much as action, folks who like stories about broken gods and stubborn heroes, and anyone who appreciates a world that feels old and full of secrets. If you like journeys that test trust, push people to their limits, and stir up complicated feelings along the way, this one will sit nicely on your shelf.

Pages: 370 | ASIN: B0FBJP74BP